Retirement age for uniformed Home Team officers to be extended to 57 from Jan 1, 2025
Published on
25 May 2024
Published by
The Straits Times
SINGAPORE – The retirement age for Home Team uniformed officers like the police will be raised from 56 to 57 from Jan 1, 2025.
This will allow the Ministry of Home Affairs to better meet its manpower needs and tap the experience of more mature officers, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on May 24 at Orchard Hotel.
He was speaking at the Home Team Promotion Ceremony, which recognised 332 officers promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel or superintendent and above, and the equivalent grades in other schemes.
The extended retirement age means that 14,000 uniformed officers who turn 56 on or after Jan 1, 2025, can continue working in their roles for another year. This applies to officers in the Central Narcotics Bureau, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Singapore Prison Service.
These officers retire earlier rather than at the national retirement age – which is currently 63 – to take into consideration the fitness and operational needs of their jobs.
The retirement age for Home Team uniformed officers was raised from 55 to 56 in 2021, and will be gradually increased to 58 by 2030.
Their retirement age does not come under the Retirement and Re-employment Act.
Mr Shanmugam said that in the past five years, an average of 135 officers retired each year.
About 36 per cent of them were re-employed by the Home Team, and another 40 per cent were assisted in their transition to new careers.
Mr Shanmugam said more will be done for retiring officers. This includes providing them with a personalised career guide and strengthening links with alumni and employer networks for job referrals.
Singapore’s national retirement age will be raised to 64 in 2026 and 65 by 2030, which means employers cannot ask staff to retire before that age.
Said Mr Shanmugam: “Progressively raising the retirement age allows us to manage the changes to manpower flow in a smoother way and avoid bottlenecks in higher appointments.”
He noted that trust in the Home Team remains high. Citing a recent public perception survey, he said 93 per cent of Singaporeans had confidence in the Home Team’s ability to keep Singapore safe and secure.
A total of 6,402 officers were promoted at the May 24 ceremony. They comprised 3,755 regular officers from Home Team departments and statutory boards, 2,529 operationally ready national servicemen from SPF and SCDF, and 118 members from the Volunteer Special Constabulary and Civil Defence Auxiliary Unit.
Among those promoted was Mr Paul Teng, 38, who went from senior assistant director to deputy director of Yellow Ribbon Singapore’s careers division.
He had quit his job in finance 13 years ago for a career in helping former offenders find meaningful jobs and navigate life after prison.
He spoke about a case in 2019 where a former offender with drug-related offences in his 30s, who was serving the tail-end of his sentence in the community, called him one evening over frustrations at work.
Mr Teng said: “He felt he had been given an unfair amount of work at the restaurant, and had smashed a cooking pan in the kitchen in anger.
“During our two-hour-long conversation, he calmed down, and we spoke about how to regulate his emotions better and what he could do to rectify the situation.
“It was a turning point for him as he realised he could have voiced his feelings instead of bottling everything up.”
The former offender kept his job despite his outburst, and stayed crime-free after his release.
Deputy commander of Woodlands Checkpoint Senthamarai Vaithilingam was promoted in rank from superintendent to deputy assistant commissioner (DAC).
She reviews security processes to support day-to-day checkpoint operations, and oversees projects to improve the welfare of officers, among other duties.
She was involved in the implementation of the QR code clearance system for car travellers at Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints that was rolled out on March 19. The initiative allows travellers to clear immigration more quickly, without having to present their passports.
DAC Senthamarai, 53, said she finds it meaningful to be able to help her officers and the travellers passing through the checkpoints.
“When I see that travellers are delighted with our clearance process and our officers are happy with our leadership, that is a pleasure to me,” she added.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Reproduced with permission.
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